


Forever is a Long Time

by TheExiled1809



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 4+1, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-10-31 14:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10901283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheExiled1809/pseuds/TheExiled1809
Summary: Four times Stiles and Derek need help getting it right and one time they don't.OrFour different soulmate universes and one regular universe.





	1. Broken Watches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Forever is a Long Time
> 
> Fandom: Teen Wolf
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, sadly. Jeff Davis does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

 Chapter 1: Broken Watches

"Stiles, go to bed," moaned Scott, his roommate. Scott threw a pillow at Stiles for good measure. It bounced off his head, but didn't faze him at all.

"No can do, Scotty," the boy replied, typing furiously at the keys on the laptop. He took another sip of his coffee, which was slowly becoming lukewarm. He made a face. Lukewarm coffee was terrible.

"Dude, you're so gonna be dying tomorrow," Scott warned, getting a glass of water.

"That's fine," Stiles muttered absently, eyes flicking over the words on the screen. "As long as I get this damn paper finished." He had decided to procrastinate on this huge philosophy essay, thinking he could easily finish it in a couple days. He couldn't.

His roommate sighed in defeat. "Alright, good luck, bro. I'm going to bed."

"Night."

A few hours later, a very sleepy boy reread his paper. He yawned and threw his arms out. His right hand slammed into the wall, knocking down the clock, which hit his hand and broke.

"Ow fuck," he hissed, jumping up and tripping over the coffee table in front of him. He flailed wildly, trying to regain his balance.

Stiles face-planted into the floor, which was hard wood. It wasn't very soft at all. Why did they even put a coffee table in front of the couch? Or a fucking wooden clock that would fall at a moments notice? They all knew Stiles was clumsy.

"Stiles!" Scott burst into the room, half-asleep, but panicked nonetheless. The lights flickered on. Stiles just groaned from his place on the floor and rolled onto his side, wincing at the pain coming from his hand and face mostly.

"What happened?" Scott took in the broken clock and the askew table with Stiles' feet still laying on it.

"Nothing, just tripped and fell on my face," he muttered in response.

Scott smirked. "So what usually happens?"

"Yup. I think I'm just gonna sleep here tonight."

His roommate sighed. "Nope, let's get you to bed. Bros don't let other bros sleep on the floor when they have class tomorrow." He picked Stiles' limp form off the ground and led him to his room. Stiles gave the brunette boy a grateful smile. Scott was great. Everyone should aspire to be Scott McCall, he thought as Scott wished him goodnight. He ignored the pain in his hand in favor of sleeping. Sleep was great. He loved sleep.

_/Line Break\_

When he got up, his hand was bruised and slightly swollen. He groaned and forced himself out of bed for some ice. The light was on in Scott's room. Probably doing his hair for Allison, that boy was so whipped.

Stiles wrapped the ice in a washcloth and placed it on the most swollen part of his hand. He caught sight of his soulmate watch and stared at it sleepily. It usually calmed him down to look at the counting down numbers, even though he tries not to look at it too often. He wanted it to be a surprise when he met his soulmate.

Wait.

Something was off. He stared at his watch more as the feeling in his gut intensified. What was wrong...

Holy shit, his screen was blank. He dropped the ice and looked closely at the watch. The screen that was supposed to have numbers counting down the days he was going to meet his soulmate wasn't there. Instead, there were minuscule cracks ebbing from the side.

That fucking clock. He was going to burn it.

He hated his life so much. Maybe they had extra watches! There were bound to be clumsy people like him who broke it. The universe had to have extras! It was essential to life.

"Scott," groaned Stiles as he watched Scott get the cereal. "I'm so screwed."

"Told you you'd be dying," his best friend said sympathetically, pouring the milk into the bowl.

"I broke my soulmate watch."

"YOU WHAT?"

Stiles stared at Scott, who was still pouring the milk into his bowl. The bowl was now overflowing. "You might wanna clean that up."

Scott snapped out of his stupor and cursed before righting the milk carton and grabbing the paper towels. "Stiles, please don't tell me you said you broke your soulmate watch," he pleaded, mopping up the white liquid.

"Um, I didn't break my soulmate watch...?"

"Tell the truth."

"You explicitly told me not to tell you I broke the watch, which is the truth. You can't have both, Scott," Stiles sighed, closing his eyes. Life was very difficult at the moment.

"Lemme see," the other boy demanded, grabbing Stiles's wrists and taking in the blank screen that and cracks. "Oh, you're totally screwed."

"Thanks," Stiles said dryly. "I don't even remember the last number, so I don't have a clue when I'll meet my soulmate."

"What do we do?" asked Scott, brows furrowing.

"Um...hopefully I meet my soulmate," the other boy said. "I...I dunno, Scott."

A beep interrupted their troubles, signaling that it was eight o'clock Scott glanced at the oven before yelping, reminding Stiles of an excited puppy. "Stiles, I'm gonna be late to class! I gotta go!"

Stiles watched his friend rush out the door. "Okay," he said to an empty room. "Goodbye to you too."

He frowned and plopped down on the couch. His next class wasn't until twelve, so he still had some downtime. And he didn't want to spend it worrying about his watch thing. Screw that, he could deal with that later. No, he didn't want a panic attack right now. Instead, he grabbed a coke and turned on his other best friend. Netflix. Arrow, here he comes.

As he watches the show, he can't help but marvel at Oliver. Those abs. They were so beautiful they belonged in a museum. He knew he was bi. It was good because his soulmate could a guy or girl. Some close-minded people pushed away their soulmate just because they were a certain gender. He loved all of them. Girls were hot, guys were hot. It was a win-win.

Too soon, he had to go class. Stiles grumbled to himself as he shouldered his bag and wore his hoodie. He didn't want anyone asking questions about his broken watch. All through class, he was absentmindedly listening to the professer drone on. It's fine. He was ahead in the class. The only smarter person in this class was Lydia Martin. Stiles kinda loved her for that.

"Stiles," she called after class, grabbing him by the sleeve of his hoodie. "Coffee later? Study and stuff?"

"Of course, the love of my life," he said dramatically. Stiles bowed with a large grin, remembering when he had the biggest crush on Lydia when he met her at freshman orientation. Look how far he's come. "Nine tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes, used to his antics by now. "Yeah."

_/Line Break\_

Lydia Martin might not be his soulmate, but he still wants to impress her. He brushed his teeth and everything. Stiles ran a hand through his dark hair and squinted at himself in the mirror. It was getting a little bit too long for his liking. He would have to cut it later. But not a buzzcut. Never again. That was a dark time in his life.

He saw the redhead sitting at a table. This coffee shop was pretty popular on campus because there was tables and comfortable chairs. And free wifi, which was amazing. The coffee decent too.

"Your usual?" he questioned. Lydia nodded, and Stiles went up to order. She always reserved their table while he gets the coffee. He squinted at the menu before choosing. He got a different coffee every time. Might as well see which was the best.

"Um, can I have, uh...," Stiles trailed off and looked up at the worker. Then his heart stopped. There was a tall man with dark hair styled up and hazel eyes. He had stubble framing his jaw. Plus cheekbones. Hot damn, look at those cheekbones. Stiles could see the muscles through the worker shirt that was definitely on the smaller side.

Through his haze, he registered a beeping nose that was the sound of a watch going off. Slowly, people started looking at their watch to see if it was theirs. Hot barista looked at his. The man furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Stiles again. The beeping belonged to him. The hot barista's watch went off when he met Stiles.

"Is your watch going off?" the man said gruffly, and dear lord help him, that voice was basically sex. He cocked his head and stared at Stiles's wrist before shaking his head. "No, it's not. What the fuck?"

The poor guy just looked super confused before glaring at Stiles and storming off. Stiles was too confused to call out to the barista. Numbly, he walked back to Lydia.

"Where's our drinks," she demanded, green eyes glaring into his soul. He didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on the spot where the man was standing before he stormed off.

"Stiles?" Her voice was softer now, concerned. "You okay?"

"I think I just met my soulmate, Lyds," he whispered.

"Stiles, that's great! Right?"

"He doesn't know I'm his soulmate though," Stiles said.

"Why?" Lydia asked quickly. "Didn't your watch beep at the same time?"

"Lydia, my watch is broken!" Stiles nearly shouted. "It's broken and the hot barista who's my soulmate doesn't know he's my soulmate and he stormed off, leaving me with no information on him. I don't even know his first name!"

Lydia's mouth was slightly open before snapping shut. She stood up, smoothed out her skirt, and put her hands on her hips before fixing Stiles with a glare. At that moment, he remembered what he was dealing with. "Stiles Stilinski, are you just going to sit there and rant or are you gonna do something about this hot barista who's your soulmate?"

Stiles fell a little bit more in love with her. And a lot more afraid because she was damn scary when she glared at you with that hard stare. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. What do I do, genius?"

She sighed in exasperation before marching up to a worker and stared at him. Stiles was pretty sure the poor worker was cowering.

"Do you know the barista who just stormed off?" she asked sweetly and smiled, but it reminded Stiles of a wolf. Apparently it reminded the worker of something along those lines because he shivered visibly.

"Uh, h-his name, is uh, Derek. Hale I think. Yeah, Derek Hale sounds right." The boy's eyes were wide as Lydia grinned wider.

"Thank you," she said primly before turning her eyes on Stiles. "See? Not that hard."

Stiles shook his head, but smiled all the same. He had the name of his soulmate. "Derek Hale." He tasted the name on his tongue before grinning. Yeah, he could find Derek. He is the sheriff's son, after all. He had his resources.

"Let's go!" he urged, grabbing Lydia's hand before leading her to his jeep. Ah, good old Roscoe. She and him had lots of fun times together, he mused, looking at the peeling blue paint.

She wrinkled her nose at the car. "There's no way in hell I'm driving in that."

"Don't listen to her, baby," he whispered to the car just to spite the redhead. "Would you rather walk to my house because that's a far walk."

Lydia sighed in exasperation before climbing in the passenger's seat. Stiles grinned before getting in and starting the car up. It sputtered weakly. The boy hit the dashboard before the engine roared to life. Lydia glared at Stiles.

"If this thing breaks down in the middle of the road, I will skin you alive," she warned.

"Okay," he chuckled, too excited to care about the threat.

He tapped the steering wheel nervously. What was Derek like? Sure, he was hot, like super hot. Those hazel eyes were absolutely breathtaking. They had a million shades of green in them with specks of yellow. Stiles could probably stare in them all day. He looked like he had thick, soft hair that Stiles would love to run his hand through. Derek's cheekbones and jawline were so sharp, he could cut someone. And the arms were huge. Enough with his Derek poem. Stiles knew what he looked like, but personality? Was he nice, funny, and a nerd? Or was he a douchebag. Derek seemed to be glaring a lot in the short time they were together.

They arrived at his apartment, and Stiles burst through the door. Scott was watching TV with Allison, his soulmate he met in high school. They turned around and smiled. They both had smiles that lit up the room. The dimples helped. And they reminded Stiles of puppies. The couple was sweet enough to give you cancer.

"Hey, man," Scott greeted. He noticed Stiles's slightly panicked face. "You okay?"

"I met my soulmate today," Stiles exclaimed, flailing and hitting Lydia. She grabbed the offending arm and glared at him.

"Woah, are you sure?"

Allison swatted him before grinning at Stiles. "Great! Who's the lucky person?"

"Dude, you're sure you met your soulmate?"

"Scott!" the brunette girl reprimanded.

Stiles shook his head. "It's fine. It's a valid question because I broke my watch." He held up the blank screen for emphasis. "But I'm sure. His watch started beeping when I spoke my first word to him and no one else's watch was beeping. There's like, a ninety-nine percent chance it was me."

Scott looked doubtful for a moment before nodding. "If you think so, I believe it."

"What's his name?" Allison asked.

"Derek Hale."

"Really? I think I have his sister in one of my classes," Allison exclaimed. "Cora Hale?"

"Great, could you hook me up?" he asked with a wriggle of his eyebrows and a smirk.

"Yeah," the brunette girl laughed. "Though, she's a glaring person."

"Definitely related to Derek then."

_/Line Break\_

"Stiles, do you really want me to come?"

"Shut up, Lyds," he commanded. "You're coming, whether you like it or not."

They were driving to a popular restaurant on campus. Allison had told Derek's sister, Cora, that she knew who her brother's soulmate was. It was a complicated situation and they could discuss it over dinner. But Stiles had to have support. Hence Lydia.

His heart was hammering in his chest. What if Derek was a complete and utter jerk? What if he wasn't into guys? What if he hated Stiles?

"I can hear you thinking from here," Lydia told him as they walked into the restaurant.

"I knew you were perfect, but not that perfect," he smirked. "Not perfect enough to read my mind at least."

"Honey, I'm always perfect, mind-reading skills or not." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and marched forward.

Stiles opened his mouth with a witty retort, but it died in his throat as he saw two people sitting in a booth. They were obviously siblings. Derek looked like he didn't want to be here, and his face was contorted into a scowl. The woman looked a bit better, but she definitely wasn't smiling.

He locked eyes with those beautiful hazel eyes. The world seemed to slow down, cliché, he knows. He barely registered the beeping at his side. Wait, beeping?

Stiles turned towards Lydia, who looked lost, for once in her life. She was staring at Cora Hale with her mouth agape. Cora was staring at the redhead with her eyebrows drawn together. People around them clapped, happy that another person found their soulmate.

They both slowly walked towards the booth. Each step made the Hale siblings glare intensify. Finally, they sat down opposite of them.

"So, uh...," Stiles said, rubbing his neck. "I'm Stiles, this is Lydia."

"Derek," the Hale man grunted. "Cora." He pointed to his sister, who was staring intensely at Lydia.

"Didn't your mother teach you it's not nice to stare," Lydia snapped at the girl.

"My mother's dead," Cora shot back, unfazed.

The two fell into a snarky banter. Stiles nudged Lydia and smirked before turning to Derek. "So, would you believe me if I told you I was your soulmate?"

If possible, Derek's eyebrows knitted together even further. Stiles then decided Derek's eyebrows were a form of communication.

"Depends on your reasoning," the man responded finally.

"Okay," Stiles said, nodding to himself. "I can work with that. So, I broke a clock, which broke my watch, and these things are not indestructible, sadly. That's a very big flaw, by the way. They should fix that. And unlike lots of people, I wanted my first time meeting my soulmate to be a surprise, so I never added up all the time to see what day I'd meet you. I'm freaking out, but try to continue with my life. I see a hot barista who's watch starts beeping when we meet eyes, but my watch was broken, so no one else's watch was beeping. You stormed out, I freaked out, and Lydia saved my love life."

Derek cocked an eyebrow before smirking. "Hot barista?" he asked wryly after a long pause.

"That's all you got out of that!" Stiles asked, flailing and narrowly missing Lydia's water. She grabbed the arm and wretched it to his side. Thank god for her.

"Well, when I locked eyes with you, the world seemed to freeze," Derek continued, not minding Stiles. "My watch started beeping and I happened to be staring at a you, but your watch wasn't beeping. No one's was. I was confused and ran."

Stiles grinned at the man, and was that a tint of red on his cheeks? It so was. Derek was cute when he blushed. "Can we start over? I'm Stiles Stilinski. Yes, that's a nickname, no you cannot know my real name. I'm twenty years old. I usually hear that I'm a sarcastic smartass that always has a comeback and I have attention span issues. I want to study law. I love curly fries and hate being polite, so never bring me to a fancy restaurant cuz that's a recipe for disaster. I have insanely loyal, amazing friends so if you fuck with me, you fuck with them. I love rollercoasters and a way to romance me is to bring me to a amusement park and win me a stuffed animal."

Derek eyed Stiles, and the teen thought he just screwed up his chance with his soulmate. But then Derek flashed a small smile, and if that's what his half smile looks like, Stiles would kill to see a grin.

"Derek Hale. Twenty-four. I've been told by my sister that I'm a self-sacrificing idiot who has a bad case of resting-bitch-face. She loves me though and would kill anyone who dare hurt me. I want to go into law enforcement. I hate parties or anything with lots of people I don't know, so don't bring me to a party for a long time. I love peace and quiet, so I find it weird that I've already started falling with this loud spaz named 'Stiles' Stilinski."

Stiles's heart skipped a beat at that comment and he stared at the man in front of him. He decided he liked Derek's personality too. Maybe even more than his looks. But the looks were definitely an added bonus.

"So Stiles," Derek continued, smirking at him. God help him, that smirk would be the end of him. "Wanna go to the amusement park around here sometime? I could probably win you a stuffed animal."

Stiles grinned. "Ten bucks you can't."

"What?" Derek looked a bit outraged. "I'm totally capable of winning a carnival game."

"You're on."

The two chuckled. Stiles was suddenly reminded of Lydia. He turned to see her glaring at Cora, who was glaring right back. The boy elbowed her. "You good?"

She turned her glare on him, so he backed off. Derek was a better conversationalist anyway. At least if Lydia was around Cora. Oh, they totally had to double date later.

_/Line Break\_

Derek rolled his shoulders before taking the toy gun. Stiles watched in anticipation as the man aimed. There was a small click as the bullet hit the last bottle.

Derek smirked victoriously at Stiles as the worker asked what animal he wanted. The man chose a jet-black wolf with piercing blue eyes.

"Told you I could win," he gloated, holding out the wolf. Stiles rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna name it Sourwolf," he said mischievously. "Cuz it's you in a wolf form and you always have this sour look on your face."

Derek mock glared before holding out his palm. "Ten dollars."

"Gentlemen aren't supposed to be like this," grumbled Stiles, fishing out the money. "Look at that. Now I'm broke. Thanks, Derek."

"Technically, we're both gentlemen," Derek jabbed. "Unless you aren't?"

"Shut up," the brunette replied. "Sourwolf."

"Okay, Stiles," grinned Derek. His grin was better than his smirk by a long shot. "Let's go on that ride you wanted to go on."

Derek grabbed Stiles's hand, and they walked to the ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Leave a comment below! Stay tuned for the next chapter. Here's a sneak peek. Derek Hale is so done. He's 24 and hasn't met his fucking soulmate yet. It doesn't help when Cora found hers at 18. How much longer does he have to wait? Because Cora keeps gushing about all the colors and he's getting a bit jealous.


	2. Colorful Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Forever is a Long Time
> 
> Fandom: Teen Wolf
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, sadly. Jeff Davis does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 2: Colorful Meetings

"You're wearing such a boring shirt. It's black, just like the rest of your clothes. And, come to think of it, your soul. I'm wearing blue, it's an pretty color. Did you know your eyes are green with specks of yellow? You'd look great with a dark green shirt on. Makes your eyes pop."

"Cora," Derek Hale growled. "Shut up. I wear neutral colors because apparently, you need clothes to match or else you look like an uneducated idiot. I can't see which colors match, so I wear black."

His sister held up her hands in surrender. "I could help..."

"No," barked Derek, feeling annoyance creep up his spine. Could she rub it in any harder about meeting her soulmate and seeing colors? "Leave me alone."

Cora shot him an irritated look, but left, slamming the door to his room shut. The man winced at the sound and felt a pang of regret. But it was getting a bit annoying. Cora keeps gushing about all the damn beautiful colors and frankly, he was getting jealous. She was lucky enough to meet her soulmate at eighteen. (Woah, Derek. Her hair is definitely not black or white. It's very...bright). He's twenty-two. If you can't tell, he hasn't met his soulmate, and he's so fucking done with this shit. How long will it take him to meet his soulmate? Yeah, he's happy for Cora, but why does he have to wait so long?

He decided to leave earlier than usual to get some of that coffee that he loved. Derek yelled out a goodbye before closing the apartment door. It's not like he expected Cora to answer anyway. She was in one of those moods, which usually meant blasting indie rock in her ears to the point where Derek was concerned she would go deaf. Well, even more deaf.

Derek was a deputy for the nearby police station in Los Angeles. It definitely wasn't...boring. Sure, it didn't pay lots of money, but the Hales were old money, and he was doing what he loved; saving people. He stopped by the coffee shop. The man waited in the long line, thinking about the concept of soulmates.

Suddenly, a man at one of the nearby tables fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He was muttering incoherently. Derek's cop side came out quickly, and he was at his side in a flash, supporting the man. He looked around for potential injuries, but found none.

"Sir? What's wrong?"

"The colors," gasped the man, face stricken. "I can't see the colors anymore!"

Those words were out before he burst into tears. Derek winced in sympathy before helping the man up. That was worse than any physical injury, in his opinion. He's already felt the cold, tight grip of loss. The man's friend was quick to help Derek.

"I drove with him," the friend said, eyeing the man in concern. "I can drive him home safely."

Derek nodded and watched the pair go. That was one of the few things he was scared about. When you can't see the colors anymore, your soulmate died. What would happen if he was on a the job and just couldn't see the colors anymore. It would put everyone around him in danger because he'd be too distraught to think straight. Derek had a dangerous job too. How could he do that to his soulmate if he got killed?

_/Line Break\_

"You're coming back with me to Beacon Hills for break," Cora suddenly announced.

Derek scowled. "Do I have to?" he whined. No, he didn't sound like a petulant toddler.

"Yes," his sister answered, not missing a beat. "It's time to...move on. We can't avoid their graves and our old home forever."

"Move on?" demanded Derek, anger flashing though him lightning quick. "How can we live life happily when our family burned to death in that house?"

"They wouldn't want us to keep living life in misery!" Cora shot back. "You aren't respecting their memory that way! And it's not like we're going to suddenly forget them. We will always remember them."

Derek glared at his sister before grabbing his coat and storming outside. He needed a walk. The man flung open the door, shot Cora another glare, and slammed the door shut. She wouldn't understand. How could Derek keep living life when his family was buried in the ground. How could he be happy when most of his family never got a chance to? How could he move on when he couldn't save them? Derek would forever carry the guilt of only being able to save Cora and not more. It was his fault. He might've been able to save them had he not froze in panic. He still remembers the day when the Hale Mansion burnt down, taking almost the whole family with it.

_/Flashback\_

_Derek had woken up groggily, not getting much sleep after talking to Paige for most of the night. He was disorientated. What had woken him up? Loud, seemingly far away ringing reached his ears. Fire alarms. He breathed in automatically before coughing violently. Smoke was clogging the air, and the teenager started panicking. What did he do?_

_He rushed to the next room, picking up his nine year old sister before rushing towards the front door. He could feel the heat coming off the flames that were quickly engulfing his home. Derek arrived outside and saw the firemen coming. Maybe they could save the house and his family. But the fire seemed too far gone. The flames rose high around the mansion, lighting up the night sky in a horrifyingly beautiful image. How could it have caught that fast?_

_"NO!" the boy screamed in panic and terror. He started to run back to the house, but a firemen caught him. Derek struggled before kicking off the man and running towards the flames. The heat was unbearable. He swiveled his head when he heard a low groaning. Caution tossed in the air, Derek ran towards the source. Uncle Peter laid on the ground. The boy grabbed Peter and started dragging him towards the front door. Derek could just give up now. He could lay down next to his uncle and burn with the rest of his family._

_By the sheer power of his will, Derek dragged Peter onto the front lawn before collapsing in front of the house. He watched in horror as half of the house collapsed. His parents and his sister slept in that half._

_Derek screamed in agony. He was hurting everywhere. But the worst was the mental anguish. His whole family was gone just like that. He didn't get to say any last words to any of them, it was quick and sudden and painful. The last thing he said to Laura was a hurtful comment after a petty argument over something he couldn't remember. He barely registered the arms circling him and lifting him. All he could think about is his family in the flaming house, burning, dying._

_/Flashback Ends\_

Derek sat on a park bench, reminiscing the terrible night. A tear ran down his cheek before he wiped it away angrily. Tears wouldn't bring them back. They wouldn't even give Derek the moments to say his true last words to his family members.

He huffed before getting up and jogging back to the apartment. Derek thought about what Cora had said. Yeah, his family would be pissed if this was how he spent the rest of his life. Especially Laura. But it was hard. Why'd he get a chance to find his soulmate while lots of his family died before finding theirs? That sort of thing was hard to move on from.

He entered the apartment and saw his sister sprawled out on the couch watching a movie and eating dinner. She threw him a glance before curling her lip.

"Done wallowing in your man-pain?" she asked. It was blunt, but Derek knew it wasn't meant to be rude. Cora grieved their fallen family almost as much as he did, but she just knew how to move along with her life.

"I'll go to Beacon Hills," he answered, ignoring her statement. He caught her small smile, and a tiny piece of his heart got put back together. He only has one loving family member left, and he'll make damn sure she's happy. Even if that means coming to terms with his past.

_/Line Break\_

"Are you ready!" Derek called.

"Shut up," came the answer. Derek scowled and fiddled with the hem of his dress shirt. Cora had said it was blue. How long does it take to get ready anyway? Cora never got dressed up for anything. The only times he could remember was when his mom dressed and braided her hair, and the funeral of their family.

He heard footsteps and turned towards the source. "Are you wearing a dress?!"

Cora glared and crossed her arms. She was wearing a short dress that stopped at her thighs and hugged her curves. Derek instantly felt the big brother in him come forward, demanding to tell his sister to dress in baggier clothing. Nothing nearly as tight as that dress.

"Lydia said she'd kill me if I wore jeans to the party," his sister muttered with a put-out scowl.

Derek laughed, despite the fact that he hated that dress already. She was so whipped. He held out his elbow, and Cora smirked before hooking her arm through his and walking down to the lobby. The siblings had rented a hotel room in Beacon Hills, so they didn't have to drive far.

They sat in relative silence, but Derek could feel his sister's excitement growing the closer they got to Lydia's house. He stole a glance at her before snorting. He resisted the urge to poke fun about losing the badass, chill sister and kept his mouth shut. They pulled in front of her house before Cora practically dragged him inside.

Derek sighed and prepared for a long night as they walked into the room. There were lots of people, and Derek didn't do lots of people. He'd rather curl up on his couch with a book or movie. But he wanted to meet Lydia. Cora fell, and she fell hard, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, and he wanted to see the one who made his baby sister like that.

"Cora!"

A girl, or young woman, rather, appeared in front of them. She was short and petite, but she gave off the vibe of power. She was the one in charge, the woman who ran the show.

Lydia shot him a glance before smiling at Cora. She wrapped his sister in a hug before pecking a kiss on her lips. Then she turned to face him.

"Lydia Martin," she greeted primly, holding out a hand. "You must be Cora's brother, Derek?"

He felt himself turn inward at being faced with her icy stare. He mentally reprimanded himself. She was a nineteen year old girl. He was a twenty-two year old man! Derek took her hand and shook it firmly.

Cora glanced at him as Lydia was called over to one of her friends, a brunette girl with large dimples. "Go talk, you weirdo. I'm gonna hang with Lydia for a while." She shoved him in the direction of the living room.

The man scowled, but walked away. Maybe he could find something to drink. He maneuvered his way to the refreshments table and grabbed some punch in a solo cup. Derek nursed the drink on the couch, glaring at anyone who tried to talk to him. Maybe he was being a little antisocial, but he was fifteen when his house went to ashes, taking almost his whole family with it. He's twenty-two and hasn't met his soulmate. He was allowed some self-pity, okay?

Derek was on his phone when a voice reached him. "So what's a guy like you doing glaring down at your phone most of this party? Sure, your glaring face is pretty hot, but it's gonna give you wrinkles, man. All that glaring can't be good for your face."

Derek grunted in return, eyes fixated on his phone. Hopefully the guy would get the message and move on. It was silent for about thirty seconds before the voice started again. He felt the urge to claw his ears off suddenly.

"Silent treatment? Hate to break it to ya, but I've been told I annoy people terribly, and no one can ward me off. So, I'm probably not gonna give up anytime soon. I'm lonely and no one wants to talk to me. Scott's making heart eyes at his girlfriend, Allison. It's disgustingly cute. Danny just told me to stop bothering him, which is a feat because he's the nicest guy I know. Jackson's just an asshole, I don't wanna be around him. Malia's stuffing her face with those chicken wings over there, she's almost eaten a whole bucket! On her own. Liam's following Scott around like a puppy, actually, Scott, Allison, and Liam remind me of puppies. It's really weird, but cute, ya know? Kira didn't wanna come, she's way too shy. Lydia's too wrapped up with her new girlfriend, so here I am, rambling your ears off."

Derek sighed and looked up. His eyes met the guy's, which was this really soft shade of something. It was a little like black, but it wasn't black. It was a lot lighter. And they had these specks of something in them, which was lighter than the guy's eyes. They kinda sparkled.

He noticed the guy inhale quickly, and he looked away. He then noticed lots of things at once. The walls, people's clothes, the floor, the couch he was sitting on, his phone. They weren't black and white anymore. Holy shit, he can see colors. Derek's eyes shot back up to the guy's.

"Your eyes," the guy breathed in awe. "They...they're amazing."

Derek felt heat rise up his face. He quickly examined the guy...his soulmate. He actually found his soulmate. The guy had messy hair that was in between the color of his eyes and the color black. He had high cheekbones, bow-shaped lips, and a strong jawline. There were little dark spots that dotted the kid's face and neck. A quick once-over on the guy's body, Derek definitely wasn't checking the kid out, showed his long limbs and slim figure. He had abnormally long, slender fingers that caught Derek's attention. A lot.

"Um..." Derek trailed off, not knowing how to start. He ignored his soulmate for a solid three minutes at least when he first met him, a great first impression. "I...uh...my name is Derek?"

The guy's mouth quirked upwards. "Is that a question?"

A chuckle slipped out of Derek's mouth before he could stop it. "No."

"Okay, Derek. I'm Stiles." Stiles finished the sentence with a small bow and a wink. "Sorry for talking your ear off for the past five minutes."

"What kind of name is Stiles?" Derek blurted out, then mentally hit himself. Usually he had a hard time talking to strangers. Now, he can't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"A name that's easier to pronounce then my real name," he answered, grinning. His eyes sparkled with mischief.

Derek shrugged. "Now I'm curious. You should tell me."

Stiles shook his head wildly. "Never. That word will never, ever be spoken from me again."

"Stiles!" Lydia exclaimed, bright eyes darting between the two men suspiciously. Her light eyebrows arched, and Derek was pretty sure she knew something was up.

"D-Derek?" Cora definitely knew what was up. Derek could tell by her single raised brow. The Hale siblings had basically created their own language, using eyebrows and eye rolling. It was quite impressive.

"Go away," Derek told the two women gruffly, eyeing the hyperactive teen named Stiles. "I wanna talk to my soulmate."

This made a grin break out onto Stiles's face. Lydia looked vaguely surprised as Cora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Derek just cocked his own back at her.

"Wha-," his sister started before Lydia grabbed Cora and dragged her away. The man was thankful for how commanding the girl was as he turned back to...to his soulmate. Wow, he found his soulmate.

"So..." Derek trailed off. He wasn't very good at this. His sister called him socially awkward. He told her to shut up lots of times. But right now, he could see where Cora was coming from. He didn't know what to do.

Stiles grinned at the man. "Do you wanna get outta here, Derek?" It seemed like he was tasting his name. Derek shuddered involuntarily.

"Yeah," the man said. "I know this really good burger joint not that far from here. Wanna join?"

The guy laughed, a sound that was rich to Derek's ears. He hasn't heard a laugh like that for a while. He kinda liked it. Okay, he really liked it. He hoped he never stopped hearing it.

"Of course. And while we're at it, we can learn all the color names! Lydia always says her hair is strawberry blonde!"

"...what the hell is a strawberry blonde?"

"Let's find out." Stiles grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the party, an easygoing grin on his face. One more piece of his heart was together again, and Derek had a feeling that would start happening a lot more. He had his soulmate after all, and they're supposed to be the missing half of a whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Soulmate AU's are the best. Review please! Next chapter will have your soulmate's first words tattooed on your body. It'll be from Stiles's POV and features a famous!Derek.


	3. Famous First Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Forever is a Long Time
> 
> Fandom: Teen Wolf
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, sadly. Jeff Davis does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 3: Famous First Words

Stiles should consider himself lucky. Some people had generic phrases tattooed on themselves, like "hello" or "how are you". His best friend Lydia had, "aren't you supposed to be psychic" tattooed on her right hip. Scott, his other best friend, had "thank you" wrapped around his bicep. Allison, his soulmate, had "do you need a pen?" Stiles, on the other hand, had a formal introduction! Which would be good, right? Wrong. Because his soulmate has tons of people telling him they were his soulmate.

Derek Hale. Stiles researched this guy so much, it was basically an obsession. But to be fair, Derek was his soulmate so...

The guy's a successful actor. A successful, smart, hot, actor. So he's bound to have fans crawling all over him. This created a problem for Stiles. Derek would never know Stiles was his true soulmate because it could be photoshopped. One fan had done that before, to Erica Reyes. But her co-worker at the time, Boyd, was her real soulmate. They got a happy ending. Now where was his?

_/Line Break\_

When Stiles was a naïve fifteen-year-old, he had sent Derek a letter. He took pictures of the mark and sent it to him with a letter. A couple months later, a letter had came back. Stiles had been so excited. But it had been a pre-typed letter about the possibility of being sued for creating and telling lies about a soulmark. It was a crime, mostly for famous people, because it stopped the person from finding their actual soulmate. Stiles had gotten angry. Derek Hale was his actual soulmate!

Stiles grumbled to himself as he scrolled through Derek's Instagram. He stopped at one particular picture. Derek was grinning at the camera. He had his glasses on, and an arm was thrown around his shoulders by one of his friends. Stiles was pretty sure his name was Isaac. The teen wasn't interested in any of that though. His eyes were fixed on Derek's collarbone. Two letters peeked out of the collar of his shirt. 'za'. The picture had blown up with crazy fans commenting about their mark having 'za' in it. It was kinda painful for Stiles, considering Derek was his soulmate.

He absentmindedly traced the words printed onto his own skin. "I'm Derek Hale" made it pretty clear who his soulmate was. Well, it could be someone making a stupid joke, but Stiles was pretty sure that wasn't it. He felt it in his bones.

Stiles sighed and dialed Scott's number. He needed some Scotty-time. No more Derek Hale for now. Just him, Scott, Call of Duty, and food. Lots and lots of food.

"Hey, dude," Scott's voice reached him through the speaker. Stiles's mouth quirked upwards at the sound of his best friend's voice.

"Yo, Scotty, wanna hang?" he asked. "Go on a COD marathon or something?"

He heard a faint voice on the other end asking, "who's there?" Stiles mentally groaned. Allison was great and all, but Scott couldn't hang with him if she was there.

"Sorry, man." Scott sounded apologetic. "Allison's here. You can come hang with us?"

"No, I'd rather not watch you guys stare lovingly into each other's eyes." Stiles fake-gagged. "But we gotta do something together this weekend. I miss my Scott."

"Yeah, for sure," the other boy replied. "This Saturday?"

"I'm free. See ya then."

The brunette boy ended the call and groaned before flopping on his bed. Ever since Scott met Allison, their bro-time had taken a backseat in Scott's life. Allison's amazing, she keeps Scott grounded. But Stiles just really missed his bro.

Lydia, his brain provided. He grinned. It's been a while since he's hung out with his favorite redhead. Okay, it's only been one day, but Stiles was bored! He shouldn't be bored on the weekend.

"What?" the redhead's voice said when she answered the phone.

"Lydssssssss!" he drawled out. "Come play with me cuz I'm bored!"

"Don't you have homework or something?"

"I finished an hour ago. Scotty can't hang either."

"Stiles, I can't hang right now. I'm in the middle of writing my valedictorian speech, and I can't let Jackson beat me. Bad enough we dated till junior year, but having him beat me in this?"

Stiles sighed. "Okay, do your dumb speech. Talk to you later."

Stiles was lonely. He was craving pizza, and wanted to order some to his house. But the best pizza in Beacon Hills didn't do delivery, and Stiles just wanted some of that delicious Hawaiian pizza. Don't judge, it's all Danny's fault for getting him hooked to pineapple and ham pizza.

"Um, one large Hawaiian pizza, to go please," he ordered and handed over a 20-dollar bill. The worker nodded and typed something up before printing his receipt.

"Here's your change," he said in a bored voice. "Next!"

Stiles slunk to the side, hoping his pizza would be done soon. He didn't want to run into anyone from school right now. The boy had on baggy sweatpants and his hoodie. The hood was up, preventing anyone who knew him from recognizing him unless they saw his actual face. He just wanted his damn pizza before holing himself in his house and watching TV.

"Do you have anything else?" he heard a man say at the register. "I don't like pizza. Do you have any burgers? You should sell burgers."

Stiles snorted. "Why would you come to a pizza place if you don't like pizza?" he mumbled. "And who does he think he is, waltzing into here to demand a burger?"

The man whipped around, and Stiles eyes widened. All he really took in was hard, green eyes.

"I'm Derek Hale." the man said. "And I'm lactose intolerant, thank you."

Stiles was too dumbfounded to respond. Derek was a lot better looking in person. Tall and muscular. And hot. Very hot.

"Not gonna say anything?"

"Why would you come to a pizza place if you don't like pizza?" Stiles repeated slowly, hoping Derek would get the message.

The man huffed, opening his mouth to respond, but froze. His eyes widened as his hand drifted to his shirt neckline. Where his soulmate's first words were printed into his skin. Stiles's first words to him.

"You-you're-," For once, Derek Hale was lost. He gaped like a fish outta water at Stiles.

"Um." Stiles was cut off by the register calling his name for the pizza. He quickly grabbed it, feeling Derek's gaze burn into the back of his head. The boy slowly turned around, not wanting to face Derek. He just wanted a pineapple pizza, damnit!

Derek kept glaring at him. Stiles fidgeted for a couple seconds under the scrutiny. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Seriously, go somewhere else if you're lactose intolerant," he snapped. His brain caught up with his mouth. Shit, he did not just say that to his soulmate. Great first impression, Stilinski. Now all you gotta do is crawl into a hole and never come out again.

Derek's lip curled. "Too late, I already ordered." Then there was more glaring.

Stiles rolled his eyes. So far, very unimpressed with his soulmate. Derek came to a pizza joint when he was lactose intolerant. Very smart of him. Then he demands a burger like it was his freaking birthright. When Stiles called him out, he pulled the 'I'm famous' card. Basically, he seemed like a douchebag. And Stiles didn't like douchebags. He got his daily fill of douchebaggery from Jackson already.

"You know you can cancel orders, right?" he drawled when Derek kept fucking glaring at him. What was his problem anyway? Stiles has literally known him for two minutes and Derek was glaring at him like he wanted to murder him and burn the body. Jesus.

"So are you gonna say anything about this," Stiles motioned to his collarbone. "Or should I take my pizza and leave so I can go watch some Netflix while eating this delicious Hawaiian pizza? Cuz I'm hangry right now, and no one likes when they're hangry!"

Now the man looked confused. Better then that glare. Even though the glare was pretty hot. Derek cocked an eyebrow at Stiles, still not saying a word.

The boy threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, I give up." He marched out of the pizza joint into the parking lot. He shivered as he stared at his breath fogging up the air. There goes his best chance at happiness. Derek didn't seem that happy though. Maybe the universe was wrong and he could find happiness somewhere else. Who needs soulmates anyway? Not Stiles Stilinski, that's for sure!

Out of nowhere, a hand grasped at his shoulder. Stiles dropped the pizza and punched the person without thinking. It was seven o'clock at night, the parking lot was dark, and someone had just grabbed his fucking shoulder. No one can blame him for punching anyone. He could've been getting mugged!

His fist made contact against a hard face. Pain exploded in his hand as Derek fucking Hale stumbled back, holding his jaw. No wonder it hurt so much. The man's jaw was made and molded out of steel!

"Ow! Dude, what the fuck!" Stiles cursed, holding his throbbing hand. He bit his lip to keep from cursing anymore.

"Ow? You're the one who punched me!" Derek didn't even look like he was in pain. It wasn't fair, he was the one who got punched.

"Well your jaw is made of fucking steel," the boy retorted, glaring at him in annoyance. "Why aren't you hurting right now? You should be hurting right now."

Derek rubbed the back of his neck and ducked his head. "It didn't really hurt."

Stiles threw his head back in exasperation. "Great, I got lessons from the goddamn sheriff in this town and my punches don't even hurt. It's like being tickled by a fucking feather. Fuck my life."

The man just quirked an eyebrow.

"And my pizza!" He stared at the box on the ground with the spilled pizza mournfully. Farewell, Hawaiian pizza. "I paid good money for that just for the ground to eat it."

Derek shrugged. "No one likes pinapple pizza anyway."

Stiles gaped. No one insulted Hawaiian pizza when he was around! "Um, excuse you. Pinapples on pizza with ham was the best thing ever invented."

The actor furrowed his eyebrows. "Everyone hates pinapple pizza. That's just a known fact."

"That's cuz they're narrow-minded people who don't wanna try anything new."

"Or Hawaiian pizza is just gross, and anyone who has a brain knows that," Derek fired back.

Stiles stepped forward and got into his face. "Well it's not like you can judge. You're lactose intolerant after all."

Derek cocked both eyebrows. "Okay, you got me there. But pineapples on pizza? It just sounds disgusting."

"Don't hate it till you try it," Stiles said. He made a helpless motion to the pizza on the ground. "But you made me drop it."

The man turned pink, and holy fuck that should not be as adorable on Derek as it should be.

"Yeah, I came to apologize. I was just kinda surprised in that store, ya know?" Now Derek had that whole kicked puppy look going on, and what what Stiles supposed to do with that?

"Uh, it's cool, I guess. Just don't act like a douchebag anymore."

And the glare was back. "Do you know even know how to accept an apology? I'm saying sorry, dumbass."

"You aren't very good at apologizing, obviously," Stiles bit, glaring back. "Most people don't call the person they're apologizing to a dumbass, dumbass."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll buy you another pizza. Pineapples and all?" He held out his hand for him to shake.

Stiles eyed it for a short moment before grasping it. Derek's hand was warm and strong. "Deal."

They walked in together, and the guy working at the register seemed surprised to see them again. He asked politely, "What do you need?"

"Um, my pizza decided to commit suicide and jump to the asphalt. So I'm getting another one," Stiles explained with a sheepish grin.

Derek raised his hand beside him. "And I'm paying, since I'm the reason for the pizza's suicide."

The guy gave them both weird stares and started typing into the register. "Large Hawaiian pizza, correct?"

"Yup." A thought popped into Stiles' head. "And make it without cheese."

Now the worker was visibly confused. "I don't know if we do that here-"

"I'll pay extra," the boy volunteered with a grin. It wasn't him paying, after all. He caught a glance of the scowl Derek sent his way.

"Okay, but it's going to take at least ten minutes." The worker yelled something in the back before printing out the receipt.

Derek shot him another scowl as he got out his wallet. He payed for the pizza, extra money and all, before tugging Stiles to the side. "Really?"

"Really what?" he responded with an innocent face. "Something wrong?"

"It cost five extra dollars to have a pizza without cheese. Seriously, why would you order the stupid pizza without cheese?" Derek was giving him a half-annoyed, half-confused face.

"So you can eat it too," Stiles said with an eye roll. He learned quickly from Derek. Now all he needed to do was learn to communicate with his eyebrows, and he'd be set for life.

"Eat it with me?" The eyebrows were drawn into a furrow. Stiles has learned that meant Derek was confused.

"Yup." He popped the 'p'. He lowered his voice in case any paparazzi were around. "I mean, since apparently you're my soulmate, I wanna get to know you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing!"

"But pineapples?" Derek whined with an adorable pout. "Why not let me have something traditional, like pepperoni, on my first pizza?"

"Don't be such a sourwolf! Anyways, I'll teach you the right pizza. Hawaiian is the absolute best, dude."

"We'll see. I won't hesitate to tell you it's disgusting though," Derek warned.

"It's not. It's like heaven in pizza form, wrapped in happiness and warmth," Stiles assured him, glaring when Derek just wrinkled his nose. And he was glaring because Derek doubted him, not because he managed to look cute with squinty eyes and a crinkled nose.

The worker called out Stiles' name, and the actor looked confused.

"Is that you?" he asked. Stiles nodded solemnly, knowing what was coming.

"Who the hell names their kid Stiles?" he muttered and grabbed their pizza. A flash interrupted their conversation. The man turned lightning quick to where a middle-aged man had his phone out.

"Excuse yo-," Derek started, taking a intimidating step forward. Stiles slid in between them and flashed, what he hoped was, a charming grin.

"What my friend means to say is, can you delete that real quick? It's kinda an invasion of privacy, and my dad's the sheriff. He won't be very happy to find his underage son on the cover of some gossip magazine."

The man turned white at the mention of the sheriff. "Um, yeah. So-sorry bout that," he mumbled and fumbled with his phone. Derek crossed his arms and glared, causing Stiles to swat at him. They didn't want the guy to sell a picture of them getting pizza. That would cause an uproar, since anyone Derek actually hung out with was dating someone else or married. Derek getting pizza at eight o'clock with the seventeen-year-old son of the sheriff would be huge.

"Yeah, thanks again," he said with a salute to the man. "Let's go eat your first pizza." He grabbed Derek's arm and dragged him outside.

"I forgot you're famous," Stiles muttered, snatching the pizza box and stroking it lovingly. Derek rolled his eyes at the gesture. "There's gonna be pictures, isn't there."

"Yeah. A picture always seems to pop up on the internet," the actor sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "So where we gonna eat this thing?"

"All you gotta do is follow me," Stiles responded with a mischievous grin. He unlocked the door to his jeep and wretched it open.

"That'll be easy. Just follow the beaten-up, blue jeep that looks like it's going to fall apart any second now."

"Hey! Don't insult Roscoe!" He patted the dashboard. "Don't listen to him, baby. He probably has some oldie car."

Derek looked unimpressed. He walked to the Camaro and opened it with a smirk. Stiles' mouth fell open because holy shit, that was an amazing car. He closed his jaw before he started drooling over the sleek, spotless car.

"Shut up," he muttered and shut the door before Derek started laughing. He waited for the man to get into his car before revving the engine up and speeding out of the parking lot.

It took them five minutes before getting to the exact spot he wanted to be. He parked his car in front of the path surrounded by woods. Derek parked next to him and got out with a grim expression.

"We're going in there?" he asked, pointing to the twisty, dark path. Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?" he teased. He wasn't going to tell Derek that the woods scared him too.

"I'm more afraid of you tripping and killing yourself, leaving me to fend for myself in a place I don't know how to get back to civilization because you took all the shady streets that I don't even know the name of."

"First off, we took the shady streets because I know where all the cops are stationed. I got us here ten minutes faster than we should've been! Second, I'm sure you'll love this place." He started on the path, then turned to see if Derek was following. "Well?"

"If you knock yourself unconscious, I'm not dragging you back here," Derek grumbled, trudging through the fallen leaves. Stiles just gave him a giddy grin and resisted the urge to sprint up the incline. He maneuvered his way through the woods like it was the back of his hand. In some ways, it was, given the amount of times he and Scott had come up here.

"We're here," he announced, turning and spreading his hands in a grand gesture.

"Stiles, it's literally more trees," Derek grunted. "We could've had the exact same view on that picnic bench down by our cars."

"Rookie," Stiles said, shaking his head. "This is definitely not the same view. Come here."

The man cocked an eyebrow, but obliged. Stiles smirked as Derek breathed in sharply. Derek was in awe, his eyes drinking in the sight of the cliff overlooking Beacon Hills. The lights glowed brightly, highlighting the full moon and stars in the sky. It reflected in Derek's eyes, making the green stand out. His face glowed softly from the moonlight. The sight of Derek made Stiles lose his breath too. He turned to stop staring and went over to the rock. It was flat and close to the edge of the cliff, making for a perfect, safe view. He sat and patted the spot next to him. Derek didn't hesitate to sit down. He wrapped his arms around his legs and kept staring at the city below.

"Cool huh?" Stiles' voice was quiet and serene. He knew feeling of first seeing Beacon Hills lit up. It didn't seem long ago when he and Scott discovered it.

"I never knew the city looked this beautiful," Derek breathed, finally turning away.

"Yeah. Scotty and I found this while biking when we were fourteen. Been a hideout for us ever since."

When Scott's dad came into town for the first time since Scott had been seven. When Stiles had been bullied by this asshole called Matt Daehler. When Scott met Allison. When Stiles' dad had his first heart attack. When Allison broke up with Scott. And when they got back together. This place was sacred to them, so Stiles didn't understand the strong urge to bring Derek here.

"Thanks for bringing me here," the man murmured. "It's breathtaking."

Stiles bit back the corny joke he could've made about Derek being breathtaking, instead opening the pizza box and taking a slice. He sent a silent prayer to whoever made those boxes because the pizza was warm. He offered one to Derek, who took it gratefully.

Stiles watched carefully as Derek took his first bite of the pizza. He looked pleasantly surprised before molding his face into a bored look. "It's alright."

"Liar," Stiles accused, shoving him playfully. "You love it!"

"It's pretty good," the man admitted with a sheepish smile. The corner of his eyes crinkled, causing Stiles' breath to hitch. The pictures only captures fragments of Derek's beauty.

"Told you," he gloated and shoved another bite in his mouth. It wasn't as good without cheese, but definitely worth it. No cheese and Derek was way better than cheese and no Derek.

They sat on that rock, talking and eating pizza. He learned Derek had two sisters, one brother, and three dogs. They had a mansion in Beacon Hills, actually. He learned Derek has acted since he was nine, and that he hated seafood. His favorite animal was a wolf. He learned all these tiny things about Derek that would seem insignificant to anyone else, but it meant the world to Stiles.

He was surprised when Derek told him it was almost ten at night. He reluctantly took the offered hand and got up from the rock. He grabbed the pizza box. Him and Scott had made a pact to keep this place clean when they found it. He couldn't break it now.

"This was nice," Derek spoke softly. "I had a great time."

Stiles grinned. "Me too. And I told you Hawaiian pizza was the best."

He rolled his eyes. "I've only had one type, I can't say it's the best if it's the only one I've had."

"Just go with it," Stiles commanded. They started down the path after taking one last look at the city, Derek taking a picture to remember.

They got to his jeep and spread his arms awkwardly after a moment. "Guess this is me." Derek quirked his eyebrows up in amusement.

"Thanks, Stiles." He leaned in quickly and gave a peck on Stiles' cheek. Then gave a charming grin and climbed into his car. Stiles just stood there without any words, a first for him. The soft, fleeting feeling of Derek's lips burned into his cheek.

He climbed into his jeep and watched Derek drive away. He started up the car absentmindedly, savoring the swooping feeling in his stomach. Something out of his peripheral vision caught his eye.

Stiles smiled as he picked up the pizza box from the passenger's seat. A number was scribbled in messy handwriting, along with a small message. _Call me -Derek._

His fingers tapped the wheel in a nonexistent beat as he stared into the woods in front of him. They didn't seem all that scary anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Well, I'm not dead? And, finished with that one! Next will have Derek being super annoyed, and Stiles singing karaoke.


	4. Earworms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Forever is a Long Time
> 
> Fandom: Teen Wolf
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, sadly. Jeff Davis does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 4: Earworms

_I'm bringin' sexy back (yeah)_

_Them other boys don't know how to act (yeah)_

_I think it's special, what's behind your back (yeah)_

_So turn around and I'll pick up the slack (yeah)_

"Oh my god," Derek muttered, feeling a strong urge to hit his head against the wall over and over again to be put out of his misery. This was the fifth time he had Sexy Back stuck in his head this week.

It was only Tuesday.

He contemplated plugging in his earbuds and playing the worst song he knew just to get back at his soulmate, but he'd suffer too. It wasn't worth it.

His soulmate's taste in music was terrible.

All day, his soulmate would listen to songs, which were terrible, and Derek had to suffer. Whoever created the idea of the music that one soulmate listened to, the other had stuck in their head was ridiculous. Even if Derek was blasting his favorite song in his ears to the point he might go deaf, he had his soulmate's terrible songs repeating in his head.

He hoped his soulmate hated his music so they could go through the same suffering he had to.

But he had great taste in music, so chances were his soulmate didn't mind. Even if they did, Derek didn't play his music continuously throughout the day. His soulmate needed to find his manners and realize he's annoying him by listening to music every hour of the day. Derek didn't want to have music in his head all day.

"Someone kill me," he pleaded, scowling when Brett poked his head in his room with a grin.

"Your wish is my command," he said, sauntering into the room. "How would you like to die?"

"Rip my ears off?" Derek suggested. "If you don't, I will."

"That's a very gory death," his brother replied, making a face. "Your soulmate?"

He gave him a deadpan look. Brett knew all about his troubles with his soulmate's music. Derek always talked his ears off about it.

"Sorry to break it to you," Brett stage-whispered. "But it won't get rid of the music because it's all in your head. It can't be that bad anyway."

"Easy for you to say," Derek huffed, falling back on his bed. "Since you've already found your soulmate, you can turn it off."

"Well, Liam had really bad music taste too. I'm half-convinced he knows your soulmate with how similarly bad the music is."

Derek just gave a muffled groan from where he buried his face into his pillow. Wouldn't that be funny if his soulmate was friends with Liam, his brother's soulmate? Unlikely, but funny.

"Talking about Li's bad music, will you come with me to one of his things tonight? I think it's a karaoke night at a restaurant, and he wants me to go really bad. But I need someone I can talk to because like Liam, his friends do not know what actual music is. Which means terrible song choices! Don't let me die out there!"

"Do I have to?" Derek whined. He knew he was going to end up going anyway. His soft spot for his younger brother never disappeared.

"There's gonna be free food," the sixteen-year old bribed. Derek cracked an eye open at him, but didn't move. He didn't want to seem to easy, after all.

"It's gonna have curly fries," Brett mentioned, snickering when Derek sat up. The man feigned a disinterested look.

"When is it?"

"Six. Please, I need you, Derek!"

Derek sighed and flopped backwards again. "Fine. But you owe me."

Brett fist-pumped and leapt on the bed. The older man grunted as he got the wind knocked out of him. He glared at his brother. "Really?"

"You have no idea how happy I am that you're coming," the teenager responded, getting up and flashing a blinding grin. "Thanks!"

Derek watched him saunter out of the room before rolling his eyes. Brett totally owes him. Terrible music, bad singing, strangers, and actually socializing? That was all the things Derek hated. Brett was so lucky he's such a good brother for him.

He glanced at the clock on his desk. 3:42. They'd probably leave around 5:30, which gave him time to run a bit, take a shower, and get dressed up. He wondered if a Henley and jeans would be dressed up enough?

Eh, it was a restaurant that hosted a karaoke night. His regular clothes would be fine.

He threw on a sweatshirt and padded downstairs. Laura looked up from where she was watching a movie and cuddling with her soulmate, Jordan. Derek felt a pang go through his chest. How long would he have to wait before he had that?

He shook it off and nodded at the couple before slipping out the door. He breathed in the crisp, fall air and gave a satisfied smile. He always loved running the woods in fall the most. It was comfortably cool, and the leaves were turning beautiful colors. He liked it. It was...calm out here.

He ran through the trail expertly, having done it since he could walk. The Hales were very outdoorsy, they lived in the woods for a reason. Their children grew up in the outdoors. They owned a large cabin out in the country and usually went there every other weekend. He was old enough to get out of those family weekends, but he's only skipped a couple his entire life. Even though they were incredibly annoying, he loved his family and didn't know what he would do if they were gone.

He made it back to his house in ten minutes, opting to take the shortest trail so he'd have time to get ready.

He slipped through the front door silently. Laura and Jordan were making out on the couch, oblivious to the world. Maybe if he had tried to be louder, they would've stopped. Derek made a face. He really regrets being quiet.

"Might wanna save that for a room," he called, relishing the way they broke apart and turned bright red. Good, Laura was his sister, and he was protective. He leveled a glare towards Jordan while walking up the steps. The man blanched and inched away from Laura quickly. Smart.

Derek turned on the shower before getting undressed. He wondered how he would exactly survive tonight while standing under the warm stream of water. Maybe he could bring headphones? Is that rude though? He'll bring them as a last resort, he concluded. Brett better be ordering lots of curly fries or else Derek will go insane.

He threw on a dark green Henley and black jeans. The man touched his face, wondering if he'll be able to get away without shaving. It wasn't that dark anyway. Glasses or contacts? Contacts for sure, his glasses made him seem approachable and that's not what he wants tonight. He just wants to eat his curly fries in a corner alone.

"DEREK, HURRY UP. WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

"Fuck me," he muttered, swiping a hand through his slightly damp hair. He rushed down the steps and was met with Brett's glare.

"Jesus, I give you a two hour head start and you still manage to be late."

"Shut up," Derek growled, grabbing Brett's arm and shoving him out the door, yelling a faint "bye" before slamming it shut. He climbed into his Camaro and looked at his brother expectantly.

The teen gave him a smirk and got in. "Wow, we're driving the Camaro, your baby?"

"Don't touch anything," was the response as they went down the winding driveway in the woods. Derek slapped Brett's hand, which was inching towards the radio. "Brett! I'm warning you now."

The younger boy held up his hands in surrender. He opted to look out the window and drum his fingers to the beat instead, occasionally calling out directions.

The place was a small joint that had a yoga center on one side, and a salon on the other. Most normal people would overlook it. Unfortunately, Liam and Brett were not normal people. They absolutely loved this place. They had gone to it for their first date, and many dates afterward.

Derek entered the building and was hit with how crowded it was. Some people had to stand since there wasn't enough tables. He guessed karaoke night was popular. Probably because of the half-off food.

A teenage boy waved the two of them over. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes. And short. Derek never noticed how short Liam was until Brett and him hugged, and the top of Liam's head was at Brett's jaw.

"Hey," the boy next to Liam greeted. He was black and roughly the same height as Liam. He held out a hand, and Derek shook it. "I'm Mason."

"Derek," he grunted shortly. Then inwardly cringed. That was pretty standoffish, even for him.

"And you must be Brett." Mason moved on and looked the taller teen up and down. "Liam talks about you all the time. It's sickening."

Liam scoffed, but he slowly turned red. "Like you don't do the same about Corey."

Mason just grinned and sat down next to four other teenagers. One seemed about the same age as Brett, Liam, and Mason. He was pale with brown hair. Derek observed Mason grab the boy's hand. That must be Corey.

The other three looked significantly older. The boy had brown hair and eyes, an easygoing smile, and a tattoo that was wrapped around his bicep. He held the hand of a girl with long, chocolate curls. A couple then. They both gave off the air of sweetness somehow. The third was a redhead girl with strikingly green eyes and very well dressed. Everything about her appearance screamed perfection, there wasn't a hair out of place.

"Hey, man," the boy said, flashing him a crooked smile. "I'm Scott. That's Allison." He gestured to the brunette girl.

"Lydia," the redhead said primly, uncapping a tube of lipstick and spreading it on her lips.

"Derek." He nodded at everyone and noted names. He noticed a red hoodie folded up on the seat next to Lydia.

She caught him looking with a curious stare. "Stiles is here too. He's in the back warming up though. He's singing tonight."

Stiles, what a weird name. Derek briefly wondered how it sounded with his last name as he took a seat across from Brett and next to the mysterious Stiles. He fixed his brother with an expectant look.

"Right, curly fries." Brett dug out a twenty. Derek grabbed it with a curt nod and went up to the counter. Half-off food, so he could get the biggest bucket of fries possible. He's gonna need it.

The low hum of his soulmate's song crooned in the back of his mind. Strangely, it was one of the only songs Derek didn't hate. He actually liked the song.

_There was a time_

_I met a girl of a different kind._

_We ruled the world,_

_I thought I'd never lose her out of sight._

_We were so young,_

_I think of her now and then._

_I still hear the songs_

_Reminding me of a friend._

He quietly hummed along to the chorus while waiting for the guy in front of him to order.

"Hi, what would you like to order?"

"A large bucket of curly fries please," he told her and handed her the ten. "Hale."

"Ok, coming right up. Here's your receipt and change. Next!"

He stood off to the side and watched absentmindedly as they announced the first singer. It was a petite girl with a good, but quiet voice. He could barely hear her over all the talking. When she finished, she slunk off to the side without a word. Very shy.

"Hale!" His head shot up, and he grabbed the curly fries eagerly and headed back to the table. His savior among all this. He sat down and watched an obnoxious boy belt the lyrics to a terrible song. Derek was close to ripping his ears off.

"Hey!" Lydia leaned across the table. "On the bright side, Stiles is after this mess."

Ah, Stiles. Hopefully he had good taste in music and sang a decent song. He didn't even have to be a good singer. Derek just wanted a song he could stand. He stuffed more fries in his mouth.

_Don't you worry, don't you worry, child._

_See heaven's got a plan for you._

_Don't you worry, don't you worry now._

_Yeah!_

His soulmate seemed to be listening to the same song on repeat. At least it was a good one. Derek couldn't handle his soulmate's usual music on top of this. He cringed as the guy gestured for a girl in the front to call him later. A torturously slow minute later, the guy was booted off the stage.

"Next up," the man on the stage said. "Stiles Stilinski."

The song in his head suddenly muted. He didn't have time to wonder as his table started clapping especially loud, but all around, the applause was pretty strong. Maybe Stiles sang before? Or he came here a lot?

There was a crash backstage and someone stumbled out. Pale, long-limbed, brunette, and eyes like honey. Derek felt his heart skip a beat against his permission as warmth spread across his body inexplicably. Stiles grinned at the crowd and tipped an imaginary hat.

Wow. He was so not expecting someone like...that.

The longer he stared at Stiles, the warmer he became. Derek frowned and ripped his eyes away, focusing on his fries instead.

"Hey guys." Stiles had a smooth voice that seemed to hold lots of emotion, despite only saying two words. It was a mix of excitement and nervousness. "How ya doing on this fine night?"

Some girls screamed, and Lydia rolled her eyes. She leaned over towards Derek. "I have no idea how he manages to do this, but the girls here love him, even though he's 50% sarcasm, 40% rambling and flailing, and 10% moles."

Derek nodded, observing the tiny, dark specks everywhere. He could see the appeal Stiles had. Warm, brown eyes, a mischievous smirk, and the moles that somehow made him seem cuter. He made a face after that thought. Derek Hale didn't think anything was cute.

"Is he your soulmate?" he asked Lydia. It was reasonable; she seemed annoyed when she mentioned the fans Stiles had.

Lydia just snorted. "Definitely not. Stiles is more into the pop genre, and my soulmate likes indie music. Listens to it nonstop."

"Do they like Imagine Dragons too?" He meant it as a joke because Cora was the one who loved indie-rock in his family. She would blast it for hours on end. And she would never shut up about Imagine Dragons and the concert she'll be going to with some friends.

The redhead gave him a strange look. "Actually yeah. They love every song. I've even started liking their songs with how much they play it. I'm thinking about going to see them live when they come here."

"I think my sister's going to that," Derek responded. "She never shuts up about them."

Lydia gave him a small smile. "She has good taste in music then."

A phrase Stiles said had Derek snapping his head up to look at him. His heart started pounding in his chest, masking all the background noise. He couldn't have been singing that, could he? The music started playing, confirming his initial thought. Stiles was singing Don't You Worry Child. The exact song his soulmate was listening to moments before he came on stage. And the song his soulmate was listening to now. Same timing and everything.

What the hell did this mean? His soulmate was here? Or the universe enjoyed fucking around with Derek.

He tried to clear his mind and focus on the singing. He'd figure this out later, but he wasn't in the mood now. Fuck his soulmate and the universe, it could wait three minutes.

_Those days are gone,_

_Now the memory's on the wall._

_I hear the songs_

_From the places where I was born._

It took a moment for Derek to process the singing. He stared at the teen on the stage surprised. Stiles could actually sing. He could sing really well.

Actually, really well didn't cut it. He was amazing at singing. Derek didn't give this high praise for anyone either.

While most people talked during a song, almost everyone was quiet. Emotion poured out of Stiles in waves as he sang. His eyes were closed, and when he opened them, they seemed a little more wet then when he started.

_Upon a hill across a blue lake,_

_That's where I had my first heartbreak._

_I still remember how it all changed._

The chorus started again. Derek scowled into his fries because this song didn't remind him of happy times, that was for sure. He tried to think of something different, of eating ice cream while looking at the stars, or playing in the stream with his many cousins. It didn't work.

_/Flashback\_

_Derek was sitting on a ledge that overlooked Beacon Hills. The stars were blinding, almost as blinding as the lit-up town. Usually he felt joy when he was here, but not today. He wouldn't for a while, maybe not ever._

_"Derek?"_

_He looked back at the sound of his name. His uncle appeared from the slope that led off into the woods. Peter sighed dramatically before walking towards Derek and sitting next to him._

_"What's up," the man asked after an awkward moment of silence._

_Derek glared at him. "Are you really asking me that?"_

_"Well, something needs to entertain me. If I get bored, I might push you off." Peter bumped their shoulders together with a smirk._

_"Please do," he responded, gazing at the city lights. Peter sighed again._

_"Look, I know you blame yourself, but it's not your fault. You aren't that important anyway."_

_"I was the reason Kate got close enough to us to burn our house down," the teenager argued. "I trusted her enough to bring her to our family."_

_"Haven't you heard victim-blaming is bad?" Peter rolled his eyes. "You need to get rid of that bad habit right away."_

_The boy pursed his lips and looked forward. Peter cocked his head before standing up. "I hear dear Robbie coming up now. Best to get going, he's not my biggest fan." He nodded and dashed off into the darkness. Derek shivered at the thought of going in there, but if anyone could do that and survive, it was Peter._

_"I had a feeling you'd be up here." A steady, deep voice reached his ears. It spoke of family and home and comfort._

_"Nice guess," Derek muttered, watching his dad sit down right where Peter was a moment ago. Robert Hale was silent as he looked at the town. He usually was a man of few words anyway, always calm and the rock of the family._

_"What do you want, dad? Because I'm not in the mood for some lecture." Derek broke the silence. Only one person could get him to do that first, and it was his dad. Usually, he was the silent one, a trait he might've inherited._

_"No lectures here." He held up his hands in surrender. "Just an old man who wants to enjoy a nice view."_

_The teenager gave him a dubious look. "Then I guess Mom will get on my back about how I should have never secretly dated a woman nine years older than me?"_

_"It wasn't your fault our house burned down," Robert said sharply. "Yes, it was stupid that you dated Kate behind everyone's backs, but you wouldn't have ever known she was a crazy psychopath who wanted to burn our house down."_

_"She wouldn't have had the chance to even burn it down!" Derek stood up suddenly and violently. "Dad, people almost got hurt because of me! We lost so many things in the fire, and we're lucky it was just items."_

_He felt tears burn his eyes because Kate was someone he had cared for and believed she cared for him. He thought she loved him; just like he did. Like he had. He pushed them away viciously. He wouldn't cry, she didn't deserve a single tear from him, and he had given way too many already._

_His dad gazed at the town for a long moment, ignoring the tension pouring off his son. He stands up._

_"Don't worry, Derek," he told him, turning back to the faint, twisty path. "There's big plans out there for you. This is only the end of your life if you let it be."_

_Robert left him to ponder those words. He walked down to his car, leaving Derek with millions of questions eating at him. He stared at the full moon, trying to draw power from it like the heroes in all those fairytales did in the stories his mom read to them. He kicked a rock over the edge, listening to it bounce and decided his dad was right. He wouldn't let Kate ruin his life. He could move on from this because he was stronger than she thought._

_/Flashback Ends\_

_My father said._

_Don't you worry, don't you worry, child._

_See heaven's got a plan for you._

_Don't you worry, don't you worry now._

_Yeah!_

The song always reminded Derek of that night, the night when Kate burned his house, and his dad told him it'd be okay. It was a bittersweet moment for him. His girlfriend tried killing his family, which was the sucky part. But Derek learned a lot of things that night, like how his family would continue to love him, no matter what. And to be more careful in who he sees. Especially when they were creepy women who were over ten years older than him.

He pursed his lips and stuffed more fries in his mouth, trying to push away the wave of memories that threatened to overtake him. Why did he come here again? Oh, Brett was so lucky he was a good older brother.

_See heaven's got a plan for you_

_See heaven's got a plan for you_

_See heaven's got a plan for you_

Derek stared at Stiles, almost forgetting his soulmate problems. The boy's singing was captivating, and everyone in the room knew it.

_Yeah!_

Stiles finished off with a clear, confident note that had the entire restaurant cheering. Derek stared as he threw finger guns, finger guns, at the crowd and walked off. The talking started up again, and he wondered if singers stayed in a special place or they could come and eat in the restaurant.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Scott slapped Stiles' back as he walked by. His eyes were bright and excited, reminding Derek of a puppy.

"Thanks, buddy," Stiles responded with a grin. He saw Derek and frowned. He cocked head. "Who's this?"

Derek felt the need to straighten his clothes and check his teeth for food suddenly under the scrutiny of Stiles. "I'm, uh, Derek." The teen's eyes flickered down to the basket of fries, back to his face, and then the fries again. Derek scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Stiles' face broke out into a grin.

"Dude, anyone who loves curly fries is my friend!" Stiles grabbed a handful of fries and popped them in his mouth, ignoring Derek's frown. This kid is really outgoing if he just ate a random stranger's fries without asking. Normally, if anyone touched his fries, they'd risk losing a hand, but he didn't mind it as much when Stiles took some. His frown deepened at the thought, what was so special about him that Derek felt comfortable enough to let him eat his fries, something his family members could barely do.

Brett must've noticed because he smirked at Derek and examined Stiles more closely. "So, Stiles. What kind of music do you like?"

Said boy shrugged. "I usually go through phases. I'm fine with any music, unless it's not good enough to be actually considered music."

"That stupid Justin Timberlake song isn't music," Lydia grumbled, rubbing her temples.

"I'll have you know that 'Sexy Back' is very catchy!" Derek froze when Stiles mentioned the name of the song. There was no way...

"What song?" he asked casually, trying to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"I'll show you!" The brunette wore a big grin that made Derek's heard thud quickly. He pulled out some Beats and plugged them into his phone before handing it to Derek. He gestured for him to put them on with one hand while the other typed something quickly on his phone.

Normally, Derek was squeamish about sharing anything with a stranger, but he needed to know if Stiles could be his soulmate. So he slipped on the surprisingly comfortable headphones and waited. Stiles pressed something on his screen and looked up to see his reaction. Derek winced as music started blasting in his ears, but he could still recognize the familiar song his soulmate was obsessed with. His soulmate...maybe Stiles.

_I'm bringin' sexy back (yeah)_

Derek watched the teenager's face carefully, trying to gauge if Stiles could also hear the music. He was pretty certain he did, considering the frown and confusion evident on his face.

"What the hell," Stiles muttered. His face suddenly lit up, and he turned to Derek comically slow with wide eyes. "No way. You're my soulmate?"

The conversations at their table stopped when Stiles uttered those words. Brett spun his head to stare at them so quickly that Derek was sure he got whiplash. Scott was almost shaking with excitement, and Allison was smiling kindly at the two of them. The others were considerably more laid back, and Lydia was even checking her makeup with her phone.

"I guess I am," Derek responded quietly, hating that everyone was looking at him. He shoved the last fry in his mouth so he seemed kinda busy. He glanced at Stiles and froze when he saw the brunette was frowning at him. Did he already do something wrong? It's literally been ten seconds since they figured out they were soulmates.

"I can't believe you just took the last curly fries. Rude. And I was just starting to like you, Derek." Stiles crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, narrowly missing hitting a tray full of food. The waiter threw him a nasty glare, and he gave an apologetic grin in return.

"I bought these fries with my own money so I'll eat as much as I want," Derek shot back, feeling more comfortable with the banter then acknowledging the fact that they were made for each other.

"But...curly fries are my food! Everyone knows that."

The rest of the table looked between them with bewildered expressions. They had just found out they were soulmates and were talking about fries instead.

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. "I didn't even know you existed when I bought these fries."

Stiles dramatically held his chest. "That hurts, Derek."

Derek fought back a smile. He looked at Stiles, almost shyly. "I have more money."

"Hell yeah, let's go." Stiles grabbed Derek's wrist and tugged him off to buy more food. "I can show you some more amazing songs while we're waiting."

Derek scoffed. "No way. I'm gonna show you some songs because your taste is horrible."

Stiles grinned, a grin that Derek could get used to seeing everyday. "Let's see what you got."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Jeez, has it really been that long since I last updated? Sorry guys, life takes a lot of time to do for some reason.


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